As Christians, we stand firm on what the Bible says and would never change it. This would be a big red flag for any church that manipulates God’s Word to their liking. For this reason, we must be examining our beliefs with what God’s Word says often, in order to know that we are in the faith and what we believe in is true. Truly, it is better to be on God’s side, then be in line with a religion that does not have the power to save us. However, the Catholic Church is much different, as you will see with God’s Ten Commandments. Over the centuries, the different pope’s of that church, have single-handedly deceived and tricked their members into worshiping idols without even knowing it. Because God’s second commandment is removed, people think it is OK with God to bow down to statues of Mary, Saints, Jesus, and other important figures. You will see, as we compare God’s commandments with the Catholic religion. Below, you will find the 2nd commandments that they removed it, for it is in red. They also manipulated the 10th commandment, of which that is red as well.
God’s Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 are below…
1 1“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)
2 1“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4) 1“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;” (Exodus 20:5) 1“And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6)
3 1“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
4 1“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8) “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:” (Exodus 20:9) 1“But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:” (Exodus 20:10) 1“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:11)
5 1“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Exodus 20:12)
6 1“Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13)
7 1“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)
8 1“Thou shalt not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
9 1“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” (Exodus 20:16)
10 1Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” (Exodus 20:17)
The Catholic Church’s Ten Commandments is a modified version of Exodus 20. It is not the same thing, but a very slim down version of the real deal. And when I say slim, I mean, they took a lot of details out of the true commandments of God, along with removing a commandment all together. How sneaky they were in making it seem that the 3rd commandment is really the second and the 10th commandment is really the 9th and 10th. Such subtlety is very deceitful and has set up the members to sin against God for over a thousand years. They have done this by adding different forms of idolatry into their church buildings and outside of it, for the purpose of worship. As you will see below, in their ten commandments, people are not able to truly honor God. It was said by God, right after the true 2nd commandment that mercy would be given to those that obey Him. It reads, “and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6) Therefore, there is no mercy for these people, unless they repent. There must be a choice to obey God fully and not partially any longer.
The Catholic Ten Commandments are below…
1. I am the Lord they God: thou shalt not have strange gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. (Exodus 20:8)
4. Honor your father and mother. (Exodus 20:12)
5. You shall not kill. (Exodus 20:13)
6. You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
7. You shall not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. (Exodus 20:17)
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods. (Exodus 20:17)
Here is a Helpful Link on this topic!
So why would the Catholic Church remove the 2nd Commandment and replace it with the 3rd, while splitting up the 9th and 10th into the 10th commandment? In order to understand why, we need to examine the verses that they removed, which comprise the true 2nd commandment. It reads, “thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4) “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;” (Exodus 20:5) “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6) What this is talking about, in summary, is to not make any graven image nor bow down to them. And if you were to walk into a Catholic Church, you would see a variety of different idols that they bow down to on a daily basis.
An altar to Mary and her statue is below, in which people bow down to and light candles for. If you have ever went into a Catholic Church, then you will see a special place for the mother Mary, where people kneel down in worship They also light candles to her…
Here is another picture of people kneeling down and worshipping a statue of Mary, of which is not in a Catholic Church…
Catholics also have little idols of Mary in their houses, along with statues of saints, apostles of Jesus, and Jesus Himself, in the form of an idol. In all these things do they break the 2nd Commandment. Just as God’s Word says, they take those people of earth and of heaven and carve images of them, in order to bow down to and worship them. They look to them like people should do for God. They don’t care that God warned against this type of idolatry. What is sad is that most people don’t know this truth since this 2nd Commandment is removed from the Catholic Church’s ten commandments. Only those people that truly read the Bible for themselves will see the deceitfulness in this. If their pope could just read the Bible and understand what it says, then all this idol worship would be stopped. He would commend the Bible for teaching against idolatry. He would also proclaim that God’s Word is pure and should not be changed.
The Bible says, 2“every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6) Therefore, obey all the commandments of God and not just some of them. There is a warning to people that continue in idol worship. Paul said, 3“but fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (Ephesians 5:3-5) Make a choice to be on God’s side and get rid of all the idols in your life. Worship God and Him alone. If you are a Catholic, then I pray that You will repent and leave this church today. Give your life to Christ and find a good Bible believing church and not one that has corrupted God’s Word.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, I pray for every member of the Catholic Church. May they wake up to the idolatry in the church and in their lives and leave that that false religion today. Your ways are higher than the traditions of men and their pagan worship, and true worshipers ought to worship You, and You alone. To truly love You and keep Your commandments, we need to identify with each of Your laws and write them upon our hearts. We cannot have only nine of them, but all ten commandments. Even everything You taught us, Jesus, we ought to know Your teachings and do what You have said. Otherwise, we are only following something or someone that will never save us. Without Your mercy, our lives are in danger of hell fire and damnation when we die. For only believing in and worshiping You, Lord, is for salvation. We can never come to You with idols still present in our lives, and think that we are in good standing with You. Therefore, I plead that You remove any idol thing from my life still and from any person’s life that says that You are their Lord. To make You the King of our lives is also a pledge to not bow down to any idol thing, even if it appears to be good on the outside. To worship You is without any forms of idolatry, for that is how You prescribed it from the beginning. Thank You for teaching us how to pray, Jesus, that we may come to know You in prayer and by reading Your words daily. I love You Lord. Amen.
Let us read the Bible:
Note: Any Numbered References, found above, are listed below.
1Exodus 20:3-17 (KJV)
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
2Proverbs 30:5-10 (KJV)
5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
10 Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.
3Ephesians 5:1-5 (KJV)
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Catholics do not *worship* the statues of Mary or anyone else. That is like saying your photographs of your great-grandparents and grandparents and parents that you might keep on your desk are idols, and your fond and respectful remembering them, even with a little kiss, is worship and idolatry. Nonsense! They are there to remind you where you came from, to remind of your dear departed loved ones upon whom you might call to pray for you just as you might call on a prayer circle of live friends to pray for you — for surely if there is an afterlife, we can ask our friends who are already there to pray for us as much as we do out friends still on earth? — and of your duty to bring honor to their memory. This is no worship of false gods — remember the context in which that part of Exodus occurred, when the Israelis made the golden calf and worshipped it as a god before God. Image-making is not in itself a sin, unless you want to adopt the Muslim interpretation; the sin is to worship and adore anything in God‘s place, including images. And that is why Catholics (and the Orthodox churches) consider that the first commandment subsumés all of the verses having to do with the primacy of God, of the exclusive divinity of God, That God and only God is to be worshipped, adored, and glorified, and is not to be replaced in our worship or affection by something as trivial as an image of part of his creation.
But Catholics do not *displace* God with their statues and stained glass; to the contrary, statues of saints, including Mary, are designed to remind us of the great community we belong to, of how many holy people have preceded us in the love of God and whose spirits remain in communion with all of His church today. We do not *worship* Mary nor any of the saints, nor do we worship their images. We *venerate* them. Veneration (Latin veneratio, Greek τιμάω, timao), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. … Philologically, “to venerate” derives from the Latin verb, venerare, meaning ‘to regard with reverence and respect’. We *respect* them.
This argument is centuries old, but it depends on a fundamental misunderstanding of what Catholics actually believe. For more on this issue, see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idolatry
Great post. I agree 100%.
I pray for a dear Catholic friend of mine always. Only God’s grace can turn them from their ways.
I was looking for some takes regarding this topic and I found your article quite informative. It has given me a fresh perspective on the topic tackled. Thanks!
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”
Exodus 20: 4
You may also check my blog about The Second Commandment
Hope this will also help. Thank you.
A person can convince themself of anything, I suppose. No one bows down or prays to a picture of their grandparents sitting on their desk, or hanging on their wall (unless they’re into ancestor worship). But you cannot deny that catholics do bow down and even pray to many of these images, and other religious relics they like to refer to as aids to their worship. This is built into catholicism and its what catholics have been taught and their doing so is as natural as breathing air. Altering the wording of the original 10 commandments at the end of the day is just another example of truth taking a backseat to human theology.
No one bows down to – prays to – shakes incense on – nor kisses photos of Grandma. Here are 116 photos that show the Rcc clergy/etc doing just that – only it’s not to Grandma – it’s to the parts of dead bodies like skulls, arms, petrified tongues and hearts, blood of dead men, entire skeletons, etc. NO follower of Christ has their hands in nor on the dead in worship/praise. https://ivarfjeld.com/2016/04/12/the-whore-of-babylon-display-her-skulls/
Oh yes they do: https://ivarfjeld.com/2016/04/12/the-whore-of-babylon-display-her-skulls/
It is sad all the time and expense their is travelling to places such as Lourdes ,
Fatima. Knock to keep a an idea that is strictly forbidden .What
most people do not know is Mary and all the Saints are dead waiting for the resurrection. . Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they will die, But the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, but the memory of them is lost.
Oh really? “Mary pray for us sinners? Hail Mary full of grace the Lord be with thee?
You deny worshipping Mary and the Saints, eh. Even in your comment you are praying and worshipping Mary. Repent of your idolatry and come to Jesus.
I really don’t see a difference between placing flowers or or lighting a candle before a statue of Budda then doing the same before a statue of Mary Or praying to a deceased Saint for lost items such as your keys Yes I agree Protestants don’t verbally recognize the blessedness of Mary(blessed among women) except at Xmas. But the Word states clearly our God is a jealous God Our worship in whatever form is to be to Him alone ( 5o prays to Mary10 to God ,the rosary)
Try as I might to understand Catholic apologists( and I do recognize good points when made ) it still doesn’t give credence to removing/rearranging Commandments to fit your narritive So by the New American Bibles Exodus 20 it’s still the same as the Hebrew text
It would be too embarrassing even fatalistic for their church they think if they acknowledged their idolatry now. It should actually strengthen them.
Mary was made a goddess in the Catholic and Orthodox religions in order to pacify and retain women in their congregations. They call Mary, Queen of heaven and their Mother. There is no basis for this. In all catholic countries they haven’t convinced the peoples and there is divorce in every catholic country, except the Philippines I think. Mary sits as queen in Catholicism, she is no widow for each generation worships her – so she doesn’t know bereavement. “The idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication and the invention of them was the corruption of life.” Wis 14:12. (I believe it means sexual fornication not spiritual fornication). They have made Mary and themselves into Babylon the Great with their idolatry, fornication, adultery and divorce.
969 in catholic catechism says Mary by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gift of eternal salvation. Did Mary die for my sins? No, Jesus did, he is the one and only intercessor.
And what of the Fourth Commandment? Pope Constantine in 321 AD changed God’s Holy Sabbath from the seventh day to the first.
Question: If the Protestant Bible came about after the split between Catholics and “Protestors” (500 years +/-) then which is guilty of changing the Bible – Catholics? Or Protestants?
Paul Gee,
Please correct your 6th Commandment to “you shall not murder”. That is the correct interpretation. Please review the Torah on this verse.
Katholieken aanbidden alleen God, dus niet Maria.
Wel eren wij Maria. Laten wij elkaar goed begrijpen.
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Long comment that is still wrong. Tell a lie LONG enough and loud enough and the weak minded will believe it.
I find this article interesting, this page judges Catholics (no I am not one) but the bible clearly states “thou shall not judge, lest he be judged. Even the prayer you ask people to pray is judging. People are so worried about what others are doing and judging them that they forget to love each other and let God do his own job of judging. I know I cannot cast any stone, because a sin is a sin and all sins are equal. No one knows the heart of anyone, only Jesus/God does and the person themselves. I always think “work on me, you have no right to judge others sins when you have to admit to your own. What makes me so perfect “Nothing.” I love the Lord with all my heart, and continually try hard to be a good person (beautiful in his eyes) and always try and remember the Journey of others, is not mine it’s between them and God.
Kieran McCarty, I say, you are DEAD wrong in your entire assessment. In so many words, you are ‘decieved’ by your own mind. Catholicism is NOT a representation of the Truth AS delivered by ‘Jesus Christ’. Catholicism is in FACT nothing but a ‘man’ created ‘replacement’ of everything Jesus stood for, came to deliver, and taught. It is a ‘false’ and utterly ‘heretical’ and ‘fake’ counterfeit of the TRUE Church. You are quite wrong about ‘praying’ to relatives / friends in the afterlife…which is, in smalll way, a SIN born of self-deception. Catholicism, from the start, has been pure ‘paganism’ with a clever ‘mask’ on. There is No…Such…Thing as a ‘Pope’ in so far as concerns ‘Jesus’, and there NEVER WILL be. The Jesuits USE the Catholic [pagan] superstructure in order to keep people in magnetic ‘thrall’ with Lucifer. The Catholic churches are SO utterly ‘crammed’ with pagan idols, as to be the epitome of AUDACIOUSLY overwhelmingly overbaring. We do…not…NEED to use ‘idols’ in order to be ‘reminded’ of Faith in the Lord, as you say. In FACt, by DOING this, we become ‘distanced’ from the Lord. We are commanded by Christ to go DIRECTLY …To HIM…and ONLY Him. ‘Catholics’, on the WHOLE, do not even actually ‘Know’ WHAT they ‘believe’, rather, they ONLY ‘know’ what they are TOLD to believe by mere MEN adorned with audaciously fancy and pagan riddled symbolism. The GREAT LIE is sitting RIGHT OUT IN FULL VIEW, yet VERY few can ‘see’ what is NOT hidden. Why…? Because, like YOU, they are ‘addicted’ to their own ‘brainwashing’. And…another point you made, which is WRONG : We DO…NOT…NEED to focus on ‘where we came from’ in so far as concerns idolizing ‘pictures’ of the dead. Again, we are taught, BY Christ, to place ALL of our focus on HIM and HIM Alone…and we are to ‘DO’ as such…with ALL of our Hearts, ALL of our Minds, and ALL of our Spirit, Body, and Soul. Hopefully you ‘arise’ from your current condition, for, as it stands, you are LOST in Deception.
Wrong wrong wrong
Those who have gone before us are condemned or with the Lord and if they are with the Lord they are about the Lords business not concerned about earthly things. You don’t go to heaven to pray for people on earth you are there to worship and praise the Lord God Almighty. Wake up before it’s too late.
No you say a prayer you made up called the Hail Mary the glory be the rosary this is wrong and unbiblical you pray to Mary she needed a savior like you and me you believe in purgatory some place the Catholics made if you light enough candles and pray enough your soul will be redeemed to heaven no hebrews 9 27 read it yiu pray to dead people and saints you believe you are saved through good works you sacrifice the body and blood of Jesus daily no he died once for all who believe not daily priests must never be married can’t eat meat on fridays how many more sins can you Catholics commit repent turn away now from these horrible things
It says not to make any graven images at all, on top of not worshipping or bowing down to them. So even making the image itself is a sin . i have seen dozens of videos of cathlic crossing themselves to images and bowing down to them and chanting prayers to them. none of this was done by the apostles, it is idolatry, going against not even to make a graven image to venerate .
I came across this article today. Unfortunately you have misrepresented Catholic beliefs. Catholics do not worship Mary, the saints or statues. True they hold her in a place of honor and pray to her as an intercessor.
As for the 2nd Commandment, the second part that you refer to explains what is meant by other gods. It has not been removed as you claim. Using your examples then what Catholics regard as the second commandment would be the forth not the third. Exodus 20:4 would be the the second and Exodus 20:5 would be the third.
As Christians (people who believe and follow the teachings of Christ) we should seek to understand our differences and work to be united in Christ. Remember understanding does not mean agreement.